Warriors are home
Clean slate promise as NRL club turns full circle after ARL purchase
TDavid Skipwith
he messy scrap to buy the Warriors is over, with the new owners insisting they are looking for a clean start without any further upheaval. Stability and longterm vision were the two main themes to come out of yesterday’s official announcement confirming Carlaw Heritage Trust and Autex Industries as the new owners of the Aucklandbased NRL club. The joint partnership bought the Warriors from long-time owner Eric Watson for less than $18 million. Autex will take a 33 per cent stake. “Today is a very happy day for us — the emphasis is that we’re here for the long term,” said Carlaw Heritage Trust Auckland Rugby League chair Cameron McGregor. “It has been a long hard and process but we’ve persevered and we always believed in our position. We want to bring stability to the club and I’m sure that with Autex and ourselves we will provide that.”
Throughout a drawn-out process that began last August, Watson was reportedly seeking $24 million for the Warriors from a rival Tongan-US consortium. It’s believed Watson eventually agreed to sell to the trust and Autex because they made the highest cash bid and offered the brightest future for the club.
Preventing the loss of talented juniors to other codes and rival NRL clubs and improving development pathways and reconnecting the Warriors with local Auckland clubs are both high on McGregor’s agenda.
“We’ve been losing a lot of our youngsters and we see this as an opportunity long-term to re-establish the pathways in the game so that the under-6s playing out there have a vision to play right through to the professional sport in the NRL,” he said.
A new seven-person board will consist of four members from the Carlaw Heritage Trust, two members from Autex, and one independent appointee. McGregor is expected to fill the chair vacated by departing chairman and former Warriors managing director Jim Doyle, who has sold his 10 per cent stake in the club.
Autex owner Mark Robinson and managing director Robert Croot will fill the board positions allocated to the Avondale-based manufacturing group, while Warriors CEO Cameron George is a contender to become the independent appointee.
That’s where the major changes end — with McGregor and Robinson voicing support for George and Warriors coach Stephen Kearney to continue in their jobs.
The pair also downplayed the prospect of former Warriors CEO Wayne Scurrah and ex-Kiwis coach Graham Lowe re-entering the organisation despite both having being involved in the bid an advisory capacity.
Kearney said the issue had not been an distraction and was optimistic about where the new owners can lead the club. “They are people that know our game and are in our game and they see what we’re trying to do and that’s a real positive.”
Watson said: “It is particularly pleasing to see the club formally become part of rugby league’s local governing body and administrator. The new owner is certainly passionate about the game.”